


Celebrate

by bellygunnr



Series: complacency [3]
Category: Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types
Genre: Comfort, Maverick Hunters, Party, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 22:10:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12640203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellygunnr/pseuds/bellygunnr
Summary: It was supposed to be a harmless party.





	1. Chapter 1

It was the third time Sigma had been felled and many were hoping it would be the last. Some seemed to be confident that this would be the last, too, as the Maverick Hunter base was throwing a party. Sigma was dead, their fight was over- it was high time they celebrated, right?

X attended out of politeness. Yes, maybe, their fight was over for now. There would be a lull of peace and old friends would be rebuilt. But Hunters would continue to be commissioned, filing in hot off the assembly line in droves, cushioning their ranks nicely before the blood bath began.

The shadows in his eyes spoke more than the kindly lilt to his voice.   
  
Zero didn’t attend at all. X had hoped he would but not against expectations: Zero was never an avid party-goer, at most participating in drinking competitions that left him victorious but unable to walk. This wasn’t that, so he had no reason to attend.

But he and X both knew that Sigma was far from dead, anyway, so why attend?  
  


“X, could you help us with something?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“We built a mock-Sigma costume, see, and we want you to shoot it… Did you bring your buster? Wait, no, of course you did. What do you say?”

“I suppose I can…”

“Great!”  
  
A hush fell over the party as the lights dimmed only twenty minutes later. A booming cackle rumbled over the speakers, augmenting the thunderous slam of metal boots against the floor. The thunder was distant at first but rapidly grew closer—

X quaked with each slam, mind leaping to impossibly far places, places he had destroyed already- Sigma always kept the final chamber dark, loud, full of noise-

Full of noise, getting darker…

Light burst from one of the doorways, one across the way, and a hulking beast strode far into the party. “Puny hunters!” He cried, and it was Sigma, replicated much too realistically–

“You thought you could kill me so easily? Fools! I’ll kill you all! I’ll not leave a single Hunter standing…” Sigma jerked his arm out, a flickering saber casting a ghostly blue aura on the crowd, shoving them back. 

Something pushed X to the front. When he looked up, Sigma was staring right at him. Too real to be fake. 

_“I think I’ll start with you! You’ve caused me a lot of trouble, X- it’ll be fun destroying you **in your own home!** ”_

The saber jerked, his buster jerked, and the room was lit by charging weapons. Sigma reared back as if to charge him—

X lobbed a fully charged shot directly at his chest, then a thick volley of small fire. He hardly noticed as the suit burst into flame, mindlessly continuing to fire, core screeching in its chamber. He had to kill it-  _kill it dead_ , then he’d stomp it into the ground- he had to, for nothing else short of incineration would kill it… 

Something grabbed his buster and forced his arms to his side. X jerked, and his vision returned in blotches. 

He was surrounded by empty space ringed with horrified faces. A smoldering pile of plastic and metal sat heaped in the center of the room, a reploid crawling free of the mess. His cheeks felt strangely damp- was he crying?  
  
Silently, X turned away, limbs stiff. His damage had been done.


	2. Chapter 2

The reploid that had masqueraded as Sigma was admitted to the infirmary later that night. X found an old storage room to hide himself in, casting off his armour roughly to shove himself in the smallest space possible. Walls were comfort, concealment- if he hid long enough, the danger would pass, someone else would deal with his problems for him.

His buster felt uncomfortably hot. He discharged that, too, sending the weapon rolling across the floor. It clinked hollowly somewhere far away from him.

Then there was silence. It grew too loud, so X filled it with sobs and gasps and wails.  
  


“Zero, can you… help us look for X? Uh, something went bad at the party, and we can’t find him.”

Zero narrowed his eyes questioningly, but only nodded his consent. Without speaking he pushed past the reploid, stalking out into the halls, one hand pressed to a transmitter. 

The hunter bid a sigh of relief. If anyone could find X, it was Zero.  
  


 _X? It’s Zero. Are you alright?_  
  
A quiet whisper, warm as a summer breeze, echoed in X’s head. He whimpered and clumsily opened up their private frequency, a sniffle making it through.

_Where are you, X? I’ll come pick you up._

Zero was constant, reassuring, always steady. X wanted him here, but he couldn’t speak, so he chirped robotically in response.

 _X…_  
  
He felt terrible, but it was beyond his control. The terror was still lingering, paralyzing his circuits, rendering him useless. If he thought too hard, Sigma would leap out at him, all cackles and edges– death and danger…

He had lost too many already. Even Zero, infallible, had been torn away from him by Sigma’s hands.

X pressed his face into the palm of his hand, biting back a whimper.

  
Zero tracked his partner down by the beacon his transmitters sent out, his circuits fritzing icily beneath his skin. The lone, solitary beep he had earned in response was a chilling tell of X’s state. Whatever had transpired- and he had an idea- really messed X up.  
  
The beacon led him to a lone door not far away from where the party had been held. “Storage” was sprawled across its metal face in block letters. X must have ran into the first place he opened. The door pushed open easily.

Metal slid across the floor beneath the door’s power, startling Zero. Pieces of blue armour were strewn everywhere, including a familiar buster.

“Shit, X…”

 

The light splashed into the storage room, warping the shadows, threatening to out X. He jerked his buster- a mere stump, an exposed servo- up as if it would do anything.

Shame crawled over him when he saw who it was. Zero.

Of course it was Zero.

Beep. Beep.  
  
Zero didn’t say anything. He pushed what armour was there aside and sat off to the side of X, making sure to leave an opening, aware that he may want to escape.

They looked at each other, and that was all they needed.


End file.
